Funerary Diadem

Elaborate floral patterns decorate this gold funerary diadem. Made from a single sheet of thin gold, the diadem has a simple hole at each end for attachment. Too fragile for actual wear, the diadem would have been placed on the head of the deceased when the body was laid out for friends and relatives to view in a ceremony called prothesis, and then buried with the corpse.

Although the repoussé decoration of the diadem appears intricate, it was actually made simply and quickly by hammering sheet gold into one matrix. First the goldsmith pressed the peaked center of the diadem into a matrix carved in hard stone. This molding process was then repeated along both sides, with successive sections of the gold strip hammered into the single mold to produce a series of repeating patterns. Little care was taken to line up the matrix accurately, and even the central design is off-kilter.